Page 65 - November_2023

You don’t get there with one person or by a stroke of luck. We have a small breeding program for the racehorses, and now the barrel horses, but we hope it will become a force.” – Maren Luedemann
my first partners. They come up in the summertime and they were very active on the Minnesota Quarter Horse Racing Association board.
“Also, our trainers, Jason and Amber Olmstead and their assistant, Chad Lynch, have been really good trainers for us as well
as good friends. Finding a good trainer isn’t easy!” Paul says. “Jason has always been so honest about the horses. He’ll tell us, ‘I think this one has to go home and be a barrel horse; he doesn’t have the run you want on the track,’ or whatever. He’s black and white. He’s not just there to take your money; he wants you to be successful.
“Jason used to be a jockey, so he’s really got an inside track on the business because of that,” Paul adds. “His mom rode barrel horses, so
he’s a horseman; our horses are rideable when we get them back. And Amber’s dad was a Thoroughbred trainer and she worked for him for a while, so she has a horseman’s background as well.”
Their veterinarians, the stall help and everyone else involved in their business also get
credit. “You don’t get there with one person or by a stroke of luck,” Maren says. “We have a small breeding program for the racehorses, and now the barrel horses, but we hope it will become a force.”
“The people we’ve met through the racehorses have really been our biggest success,” Paul adds. “It’s been just a great experience
and we’ve met a lot of great people and great partners. This year we had a couple of new partners and their first win, they were just ecstatic! I always tell people that I don’t care if it’s a stakes race or a claiming race, a win is a win and it’s really exciting! And it’s even more exciting when our daughters are there with their families.”
FAMILY FUN
“Our daughters have such a horse background and they and their families get just as excited as we do to come down and watch the horses run,” Maren says.
“When the girls were younger, Amy was involved in horse shows and the two middle girls high school and college rodeoed and
married their high school rodeo sweethearts,” Maren adds. “The youngest, Cadyn, recently married a calf roper.
“Cadyn is still competing very strongly in the barrel futurity arena and is on a big push to continue the legacy of our mares as well,” she says, “and our Summer Run Arena has been a place we’ve been able to do things together as a family. They all live within five miles of us and we’re a very tight-knit group and very blessed for that.”
Paul and Maren are avid grandkid spectators in sports and activities that
range from hockey to volleyball, soccer to basketball, wrestling to music—and, for a few, horses as well.
And when they need some down time, Paul and Maren occasionally travel to their cabin in Wisconsin where they relax and enjoy the lake view. Then it’s back to the ranch to tend to the business of raising their equine babies. “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of nice horses that have won some nice races,” Paul says. “I’ll keep on trying to raise an All American winner but so far I haven’t been successful there!”
Foxy Cowgirl winning the Jim Bader Futurity at Prairie Meadows.
Coady Photography
SPEEDHORSE November 2023 63